How do you know if your overdoing it on training?
I started swimming again last Tuesday after many years off. I did a short 10 minute out and 8 minute back swim that I figured would take me 15 minutes each way. I was very surprised.
The next night I did a 17 minute each way swim going further then the previous night. The 10 minute turnaround point the night before, a bouy only took me 7 minutes on Wednesday night.
Thursday night I did a 1.6 mile swim, 32 minutes out and 34 minutes back. This time it only took me 6 minutes to make it out to the first bouy.
All the swims I have done thus far has followed the same route, they have just went further along the shoreline each time.
Friday night I swam out and it took me 31 minutes to make it to the turnaround point from Thursday evening. I continued on and extended the swim further. I turnaround at the local yacht club marina. I had 45 minutes out and 52 minutes back for a 2.4 mile swim.
Sunday I decided to go for the biggy thus far. It was going to be a 3.7 mile swim roundtrip. I knew after this I was going to start running into problems with refueling so I knew anything further north than this particular point would require some added strategy into the equation.
I got to the lake and saw the water surface and was shocked. I didn't think the wind was blowing that much. I knew this was going to be the roughest water I had swam in thus far. I still managed to meet or beat each of the way points on the way out to the turnaround point from Thursday night until the very end. I managed the 31/32 minutes in 32 minutes. I headed on up north along the shoreline and reached the yacht club in 44 minutes. I was surprised. I reached the turnaround point in 1:10. I got back to the yacht club and had the big surprise awaiting me. The lake had kicked the roughness us a bit. I pretty much swam *** stroke along the yacht club for safety. I didn't want to find myself getting tangled up in any of the anchor lines on any of the boats. I mananged to get back to the finish point in 2:28, right at a 1.5 mph pace.
I was still feeling fine, better than I did Friday night when it almost seemed like I had a bit a 'motion/sea sickness'. It was the weirdest feeling I've ever experienced. Thankfully it only lasted 20-30 minutes.
How do you know what your overtraining. I could go out tonight and swim another 2-3 miles and not think a thing about it. I do have other obligations that are going to keep me from doing it.
Right now I'm looking at a 4.2 miler possibly tomorrow...depending on the weather and maybe a 5 miler on Wednesday, taking Thursday off to get ready for a much longer swim on Friday, maybe 8-9 miles. I have to fully work out logistics of the refueling before I even think of trying the longer swim.
It just seems strange that I haven't hit any kind of brick wall on any of the swims yet. I would have thought I would have noticed something that would suggest that I have overdid it. The only thing would have been the Friday evening 'motion sickness'.
My pace is pretty much consistent throughout the swim unless I hit rough water conditions like I did yesterday and I get pushed by the waves on part of the swim and then pay for it on the return leg.
Former Member
Depends what your goals are. No real way to know if you are overdoing it without knowing what you want to achieve. If you're not getting hurt, you may not be overdoing it (but lots of miles on poorly trained shoulders may spell trouble down the road). Sounds like you've gone from (recent) zero to planning 8 miles in two weeks. That seems a bit extreme to me
Are you training for a 5K plus race? If not, i don't see much benefit in just going longer every time, unless you just enjoy it, in which case go for it...
I swam competitively as a kid. That has pretty much destroyed my life ever since. As a result I know better than to get myself into competitive environments...they're suicidal. If your mind has a reason, even if it is irrational, for keeping you out of a certain environment you best stay away or you'll not like the consequences. That's what I've learnt in life. So...no, I have zero intention of doing any 5k or 10k races.
For me right now it is simply a matter of seeing how crazy I can be and how long I can go before I hit the wall. I'm truly surprised I haven't hit the wall already. I've thought about swimming the perimeter of the lake I've been swimming on(23+ miles) roundtrip(46+ miles) over a number of different legs. Potentially doing it all in one month, just for kicks. I originally thought about swimming the perimeter in one swim, again just for kicks.
I know for me it seems like when I get involved in something like this I typically beat it to death and accomplish the goal and walk away to never be heard from again. Other than the perimeter idea their is only one other thing that I even think would be interesting to do but it would first take finding the right location which would probably have to be on one of the Great Lakes. It would be used to see how the mind would respond to the situation it was placed in.
I guess one of the other things I'm trying to do right now is get use to the idea of open water and the waves when it comes to breathing. It always seems like after 2-2+ minutes I always start to feel 'claustrophobic' or something in that general nature of things. It always seems like trying to get a decent breath is much harder so I switch over for about a minute or so to *** stroke before switching back for another 2-2+ minutes of freestyle. I would like to get over that hump/complication. It does seem like each time I go out the length of time swimming freestyle is improving. Pretty much unless I run aground in shallow water or something along those lines I don't stop swimming until I get back to shore...I just change what stroke I'm using. I have found I don't like back stroke with goggles on. I used to be real good at back stroke as a kid but I didn't wear goggles back then.
This summer I've only swam on Lake Sunapee. I haven't even messed around with anything. In the past I've swam or freedived on the Sugar River, Otter Pond(across Rt 11 from Lake Sunapee), Little Sunapee and Goshen Ocean(also known as Gunnison Lake even though you can't find on any of the maps since the last USGS survey was done before the lake was built.
Anymore I have gotten use to the idea of watching out for ski boats and jet skiers and I stick close to shore so I'm within the no wake zone. I was out for a much shorter night tonight than planned thanks to work and not being able to get on the water as soon as I had planned. I was surprised by how well I had improved over Sunday in more ways than one. I would have made the first bouy without every switching over to *** stroke if it wouldn't have been for noticing a ski boat that was a bit close by and I decided to keep my eye on it until it got out of range.
Actually, when I woke up this morning, I came to realize that I might not need as many...if any 8+ mile swims to swim all the way around the lake, roundtip. I did some looking around today at some of spots I know around the lake where roads 'drop off into the lake'. I think I have taken the eastern side of the lake and dropped it from nothing but long swims to all short 4-5 mile(roundtrip) swims. I think I have managed to find a few association beaches that I might be able to sneak in and use for access. I'm going to try to at least. I'm still trying to figure out the western side of the lake though. That could be a bit more difficult, especially the northwest side of the lake.
hey thepoint,
Great to hear you're back in the water and doing so well. Just make sure you're refueling post swim with gatorade & carbs. Also are you familar with GU packets? SOmetimes for a 2 miler i'll take one before. Just try it out prior and make sure it sits well in your stomach.
Where are some good spots to swim near L. Sunappee NH? I'm just south of you in Massachusetts.
I guess one of the other things I'm trying to do right now is get use to the idea of open water and the waves when it comes to breathing. It always seems like after 2-2+ minutes I always start to feel 'claustrophobic' or something in that general nature of things. It always seems like trying to get a decent breath is much harder so I switch over for about a minute or so to *** stroke before switching back for another 2-2+ minutes of freestyle. I would like to get over that hump/complication. ,snip>
You mentioned not having to switch over to BR after the first 2-3 minutes. Do you treat the first 10 minutes as a warmup time get the cells oxygenated, the joint lubrication going, and so forth? There's another thread (somewhere) on how to do a warmup for a long OW swim. Perhaps that would help.
I'm getting better at slowing down the initial pace and maintaining freestyle longer. The last two times out, Wednesday evening and this afternoon I was managing 7 minutes before switching and most of the switch was due to shoreline obstacles. If I was swimming in a wide open area where I didn't have to worry about swim docks, parked boats, parked seaplanes, etc in the way it would make things much more mentally comfy. Wednesday night was a NIGHTMARE. I felt like I was in a mine field trying to keep from stepping on a landmine.
The three problems I'm running into anymore is believing I'm going as fast as I am even though I think I'm going slow. I figured I would do the first half of the 5 mile swim today in 1:40 and ended up doing it in 1:28. I figured the whole thing, if I was managing a 1.5 mph pace would take me 3:20 but with an 8 minute layover at the halfway point for refueling I ended up doing 3:17. I felt great at the end, that was the worst problem. It did help that I didn't have to swim around very many obstacles today other than one area where it appears the boaters like to meet up and ???????. The area is big and has a lot of shallow water even 100 yards or more offshore I was swimming in water 2-3 feet deep. It kind made it hard for swimming without hitting the bottom of the lake.
After looking at the map again I came to realize that I could shorten up a lot of the swims which I'm doing. The longest swim, hopefully will only be 5.2 miles...gee wonder how long that'll take, LOL!!!!!
After finding myself shivering at the halfway point Wednesday night on a much shorter swim, 3.3 miles, I decided to not even fool around today and put on the wetsuit and once again I came down with the same problem I had back on Sunday. My back of my neck, right at hairline, is getting rub, practically raw, by the wetsuit or the swim cap. Both are meeting up at the same point on the head so I'm not really sure which is causing the problem but I tend to think its the wetsuit. I notice it the most when turning my head to breath. Granted if I turn my head right now as I'm typing this message and I can feel it.
My number one problem right now looking forward is one I thought would haunt me badly on day one. I injured my right arm in a fall I took 2.5 years ago. It wasn't a bad enough injury for anything to be done about it at least nothing was done about it while I was in the hospital(I got a concussion and was out for quite a while). For quite a while afterward I would notice a slight bit of discomfort raising the arm where the bicep meets the top of the arm on the outside of the arm. I do notice the same thing coming back now that I've started to swim. I am noticing it a bit on the left arm as well but not nearly as bad as on the right arm. I am a bit surprised it has taken this long for it to show up.
I have changed myself over to swim every other day versus even thinking of swimming daily. I figure give myself a 'big' day, 3-5 miles and take the next day off to rest and recover. So far it seems to be working quite well. I'm able to get another leg of the swim completed since each of the legs are in the range of 3-5 miles and I can rest in between each leg. The increase in comfort and the rather noticable increase in speed can't be mistaken. I am planning the other 3, 4.6-5.2 milers, for the end of the month after kids have went back to school. So that should help to make things go much smoother during the rest of the perimeter swim, hopefully
hey thePoint
go for it, but be patient.
don't increase your weekly yardage by more than 10-15 per cent, I've had shoulder problems some years ago caused by too much yardage in a short time (from 0 to 14 km in 45 days) the problems began after 4 months, I was not able to lift my arms up for nearly a month.
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http://www.svl.ch/OpenWater/
